Wednesday, November 08, 2006

What's Up, Doc?

I'll tell you what's up this morning in the wake of Democratic celebration and a down S&P 500 Index: some of those favorite names in alternative energy.

Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) is up over 4% as I write. Plug Power (PLUG) is up over 3%.

The alternative energy sector has long been a darling of speculators, but nothing was going to happen in a sustained way while an administration dominated by oil executives and supported by Congress was dictating policy.

With this election, that scenario is changing.

Energy independence will be the mantra of the next party in power. It will frame a response to terrorism, human rights, and the Middle East--and it will capture patriotic appeal. It will address growing concerns with global warming and the environment and will promise economic security. It will bring us closer to our allies abroad and ease some of the tensions with countries that compete with us for oil.

A few traders in that alternative energy space seem to have figured that out.

About Me

Author of The Psychology of Trading (Wiley, 2003), Enhancing Trader Performance (Wiley, 2006), The Daily Trading Coach (Wiley, 2009), and Trading Psychology 2.0 (Wiley, 2015) with an interest in using historical patterns in markets to find a trading edge. As a performance coach for portfolio managers and traders at financial organizations, I am also interested in performance enhancement among traders, drawing upon research from expert performers in various fields. I took a leave from blogging starting May, 2010 due to my role at a global macro hedge fund. Blogging resumed in February, 2014, along with regular posting to Twitter and StockTwits (@steenbab). I teach brief therapy as Clinical Associate Professor at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, with a particular emphasis of solution-focused "therapies for the mentally well". Co-editor of The Art and Science of Brief Psychotherapies (American Psychiatric Press, 2012). I don't offer coaching for individual traders, but welcome questions and comments at steenbab at aol dot com.